For Those You Fight For
by Spectre-Q
Summary: Weeks after Battle City, Yugi and his friends go back to school and daily life until someone kidnaps Yugi out of hatred. No one knows why, but with only a limited time to meet the person’s demands, a few must walk into an unknowing trap. Compleated.
1. Prologue

A/N:  This is my first completely Yu-Gi-Oh fan fic (the others were Dragon Ball crossovers).  Since I have a newfound hatred of the dub version of the show, I will use the character's Japanese names in the story (plot wise or reference).  In case you don't know what they are, here is a listing:

Yugi Motou – Yugi Moto

The other Yugi, Spirit – Yami

Katsuya Jounouchi – Joey Wheeler

Seto Kaiba – Seto Kaiba

Mokuba Kaiba – Mokuba Kaiba

Surgoroku Motou – Solomon Moto (Yugi's grandfather)

Anzu Mazaki – Tea Gardner

Hitiro Honda (usually just Honda) – Tristin Taylor

Malik Ishtar – Marik (shudder) Ishtar

Also, I will be using the cards in the fic, but due to my lack of knowledge, I cannot give them all their Japanese names.  For the ones I do know, I will put the Japanese name with the English name in parenthesis.  Example: Black Magician (Dark Magician), Summoned Demon (Summoned Skull).  For the rest that I don't know or have the same name, I will use their English names.

One more thing…( I really must be tiring you), I will be using some Japanese words.  Forgive me if I use them in the wrong context.  The most common ones I use are things like Hai (right), Baka (fool, idiot), or Niisama (big brother).  

Ok, that's it.  Enjoy the fic.

For Who You Fight For…

Prologue

            A cool wind swept past him as a car went by, causing him to shiver a little.  Looking up at the sky, he could see it was slightly cloudy in the morning with the leaves from the local decorative trees on the sidewalks.  All was calm for a typical autumn day in Domino City.

            Yugi Motou walked down the sidewalk towards the bus stop, backpack and all, to go the school.  It was several weeks after the Battle City Tournament had concluded, Yugi being the victor yet again.  The event marked a large turning point in his life and for those around him.  After Malik, the Grave Keeper who tried to kill him, helped him defeat his dark personality, he had all three god cards:  Obelisk, Osiris (Slifer), and Ra.  

However, the other Yugi, the spirit of a lost 3000-year-old Pharaoh, had decided to hold off on regaining his memory to have time to think about the decisions he was to make.  The risk of leaving Yugi forever was something he needed much thought on.

            As Yugi got to the bus stop, his other self appeared in spirit from beside him.

            _"Aibou,"_ he said, _"I am having difficulty making my decision."_

            "Relax, other me," Yugi replied, "If you need more time, then take it.  We've got the god cards now, so we can wait a while.  I don't really want you to leave me, but this is your decision to make, and I will support you."

            The other Yugi sighed.

            _"Thank you, Aibou…"_

            Something caught the spirit's attention when he looked over to a nearby alley.  

            "What is it, other me?" Yugi asked.

            _"Look,"_ he answered, pointing towards the alley.

            Turning around, both of them saw what looked like to be a cloaked man sneaking off into the darkness, but what really caught their attention was the symbol over his hood, the Millennium insignia.  

            "Rare Hunters?" Yugi questioned, "I thought Malik disbanded that organization after Battle City."

            _"I'm not sure about this, Aibou.  Maybe he's just imitating them."_

            "Maybe, but if he is one of them, he may be still stealing cards.  I'm going to take a look."

            _"Be careful,"_ he warned before disappearing back into the puzzle.

            Since he was early at the bus stop, only a few people where there, so he figured he had time before the bus arrived.  Looking into the dark passageway, Yugi cautiously stepped forward, looking for the renegade Ghoul.  Halfway into the alley, he heard the sound of a firing pin being pulled back.

            "Don't move or make a noise," he heard behind him, "Don't turn around or even think."

            _"Great!  I thought Ghouls don't use guns, and he has to have one."_

_            "Aibou, let me take over," _the spirit said.__

_            "Hai...!"_

Suddenly, he felt something hit him on the back of the neck.  Yugi fell down and started to black out.  "Now I will have my revenge for your…" was all he heard before he went under.

            The man removed his cloak and holstered his gun.  Squatting down, he turned Yugi over and examined him.  

            "Hmm hmm hmm…," he laughed under his breath, "Idiot.  For a person who ruined me you've certainly got a naïve attitude about the unknown, even if I used a Ghoul's old costume.  Oh well."

            Picking him up, he noticed the Millennium Puzzle around his neck.

            "Bagh!  That will make noises and be cumbersome."

            Setting him down again, he took off the Puzzle and carefully put it down on the ground with his gloved hands.  After that, he took out a piece of paper and used the Puzzle to weigh it down.

            "At least it's good for something," he said dementedly, "Hee hee…  Now it's time for us to go to a little place called Seattle on a super sonic jet…"

            He picked up the unconscious teenager and opened the door to one of the buildings that made the alley.  After a minute, a car came from the parking lot building they had stepped into and drove off.


	2. Looking for a Missing Friend

Chapter 1:  Looking for a Missing Friend

            "Hey, Jounouchi," Honda called to the blonde, "You get that math problem the teach' gave us."

            "Nani?  Of course not," he answered, "I hardly got the last one she gave us."

            It was mid-day as Anzu, Jounouchi, and Honda were at school in a typical day.  With lunch break just beginning, they were in the hallway messing around, at least Honda and Jounouchi were.

            "Huuu…" Anzu sighed walking.

            "Huh?  What's the matter Anzu?" Honda asked.

            "It's Yugi.  He's not here today, and it's not like him to miss school."

            "Maybe he's sick," Jounouchi answer, "I can't blame him from what we've got to put up with here, but…"

            "But what?"

            "I don't know about this time.  Today's the day we all go out after school for burgers.  I don't think he'd miss that unless he was dying or something."

            "You're right," Honda replied, "Anzu, could you call his house?"

            "Here?" she questioned, "The school prohibits the use of cell phones on school grounds, even during lunch break!"

            "Look, let's just find a lone corner of the school.  Honda and I will keep watch for teachers or monitors."

            Looking around, Jounouchi and Honda creped thought the hallways like amateur spies in the movies with Anzu just sighing and walking behind him.  After getting alone, Anzu dialed Yugi's number.

            "Moshi Moshi.  Kame Game Store, this is Sugoroku Motou speaking," she heard Yugi's grandfather on the other side.

            "Motou-sama…"

            "Anzu?  Is that you?  Why are you calling me?  Does Yugi want to talk to me?"

            "Huh?  You mean Yugi's not there?"

            "No.  Isn't he at school with you?"

            "No.  We haven't seen him all day."

            "This is puzzling.  Yugi would never skip school, but he left like he always does with his backpack."

            "Anzu," Jounouchi said, "Is Yugi there?"

            "No.  He left to go to school, like always."

            "Anzu," Sugoroku said, "I'm going to look for him.  Thank you for telling me about this."

            "I hope he's ok."

            "If I know my grandson, he should be."

            He hung up and Anzu pressed end on her cell phone.

            "His grandfather is going to look for him," she said to the other two.

            "Hmmm…  I bet someone wanted the god cards he got from Battle City.  The details of the duels were released last week," Honda guessed.

            "Maybe," Jounouchi replied, "…I'm going to look for him."

            "Nani?" Honda said.

            "Jounouchi, the school will know you're gone," Anzu said.

            "Oh well.  Just tell them something came up…Tell them I had to see Sinzuka."

            He ran off before the other could respond.

            "Woah, he's really got a bad feeling if he's has to use Sinzuka to get out," Honda said surprised.

            "Huuu," Anzu sighed, "He was just kidding, baka…"

            Jounouchi jogged across another street as he looked at every place that Yugi would go to but came up empty handed.  After two hours, he began to reach the business district and was still looking.  Finally, he found himself at the Kame Game Store, which obviously had the closed sign, as Sugoroku was looking for his grandson.  With all the jogging, he was getting tired so he began to walk as he searched.  About a few blocks down from Yugi's home, Jounouchi found the bus stop where Yugi would wait for the bus to take him to the high school.

            "Hmmm…  Did he even come here after he left home?" he questioned as he walked on.

            As he passed a nearby alley, the clouds began to clear up, and the sun's light hit Jounouchi's eye, which confused him as it was coming from the alley.  He looked over towards the once dark passageway and saw a good-sized object that was reflecting the sun's light.  

            _"That's odd,"_ he thought, _"No one must have noticed it because it was cloudy today."_

            He went towards the object in question to get a closer look.  Horror took his face as he looked on the ground to see the Millennium Puzzle lying there.  

            "My God," he gasped, "Yugi would never be this negligent!  Something's definitely wrong."

            He picked up the Puzzle and saw the piece of paper under it.  Scooping it up, he examined the folded up parchment and opened the paper up, seeing a message written on it.

****

**_To Sugoroku Motou:_**

****

**_            Let me say this first.  You call the police; the kid dies.  You try to get the authorities; the kid dies.  I know this punk has friends, and I want you to tell them he's gone for good.  He ruined me and now I'm going to make sure he never sees them again.   I just wanted you to know he was never safe…  However, there is something I want that might make me let him go…  His duel monsters deck.  But then again, you don't know where he is, so I'll send some more instructions as they come to me…  Got it!  No damn media either, or I make sure he dies in agony._**

****

            Jounouchi crumpled the letter and yelled out to no one.  He punched the walls and growled in anger.  Minutes passed as he kicked some trash cans in anger.  He tired himself out and slumped down, still gripping the paper.  

            _"No.  He can't be gone!  He just can't!  Why?!  Damn bastard!"_

"Where'd you take my friend!?" he shouted.

            No one really noticed him as they took him for a street bum just making a crazy rant.  Jounouchi got up and began to walk out of the alley.

            _"I better go the his home and wait for gramps…"_

            _"Jounouchi…"_ he heard.

            Stopping in his tracks, he turned around.  It sounded like Yugi, but it was different.  Cautiously, he went back into the alley and looked around.

            _"Jounouchi…"_

            Jounouchi looked towards the opening of the passageway and saw the other Yugi standing before him.


	3. Deep Connections

Chapter 2:  Deep Connections

            "Ahg!" he yelled as he fell down in shock at the site of Yugi, "NO!  Yugi has been killed!  He's a ghost!"

            _"Jounouchi, calm down,"_ the spirit said, _"I'm the other Yugi that lives within him and the puzzle.  Remember?"_

Jounouchi, bewildered and scared, tried to form words with his trembling lips.  The spirit just stood there until his friend finally got a hold of himself.

            "If that's true," Jounouchi said still in shock, "then how come I can see you?  You only come out though Yugi."

            _"That's true, but you've heard me before.  Remember when Yugi was trapped in the warehouse fire before battle city?"_

            Jounouchi closed his eyes and tried to remember.

            Yugi was still holding of the Puzzle, and Honda and I couldn't get his off of it.  A pin stuck to the dueling arena held it in place, and Yugi himself passed out from the smoke.  We tried to use two pipes to break it but…

            _"Jounouch-kun," _I heard, _"Use the pipe to pull the pin out."_

            "Yeah," Jounouchi said getting up, "I heard you tell me to use the pole to pull out the pin that held the Millennium Puzzle."

            _"Yes."_

            "Hey!  How come you didn't help Yugi today!?" he accused the spirit.

            _"He was knocked out, but his soul was not disturbed, so I could not take over his body then.  Usually, I can still do so even if the puzzle is off, but only to a certain range.  I hoped he would have gained consciousness by then, but it was too late.  He was too far."_

"Wait a second?  How come I can see you?  I thought Yugi could only see you."

            _"You have a deeper connection that you think."_

            "What do you mean?"

            _"I have experienced times when I can feel people close to Yugi.  It's prominent in Anzu, Honda, and even Kaiba, but you, Jounouchi, seem to have the strongest connection to him."_

"And that connection is allowing me to see you?"

            _"Even though I cannot inhabit your mind, you can see and hear me."_

            Jounouchi looked at the Puzzle he was holding then back at the spirit.

            "So what now?" he asked him, "Yugi's gone…"

            _"But I know where he is."_

"Really?!  Where?!"

            Jounouchi ran to the spirit and tried to grab his shoulders, but found that he was still just a spirit and probably looked crazy trying to grab something that others could not see.

            _"All I heard was some place called Seattle."_

            "Seattle?" he repeated, "Wonder where that is…?  Anyway, we've got to tell Yugi's grandfather about this.  But…"__

_            "What Jounouchi?"_

"The bastard who took him left a letter saying that if there is anything on the media about his disappearance, he will kill him for sure.  Getting the authorities would only guarantee that."

            "Yuuugiii…  Yuuugiii…"

            Much of the things going thoughts his mind were not really organized, but what he heard took precedence over all the rest.  Yugi had awakened half an hour before he heard the voice, but was disoriented at the time.  During that time, he tried to first gain composure before he realized that he was tied up with rope at his ankles and wrists, not to mention his mouth covered with duct tape, and then tried to determine where he was.

            "Hm.  Still a little groggy, are we?" the voice came again, "No problem.  The nitrous oxide will wear off soon.  Hee.  As a matter of fact, I prefer you in this state of gas inducement."

            As he squinted his eyes in the near pitch-black room, he suddenly saw a flash of light and heard what seemed to be small gears moving.  

            "There's one is for the scrap book," the voice said laughing, "But alas, I must use it to get you're one of your friends here.  I would say two, but you and Mr. Kaiba aren't exactly in good standing.  I certainly hope he will come too.  What was his name again?  Ah yes…  Katsuya Jounouchi.  You two seem to be best friends, and that would be just perfect for what I have planned."

            He then heard a door squeaking open and saw a bright white light with a silhouette of a person at the edge of it.

            "Sleep tight…"

            After he heard the door closing, he tried to get up.

            Grandpa Sugoroku was about to call the police when Jounouchi showed him the letter.

            "My God," he gasped, "If he wanted the god cards, I would have given them to him without hesitation.  Anything to prevent my grandson from this…"

            Both of them had thoughts like these as Jounouchi and Grandpa tried to think of a solution to the problem.  Calling the authorities would only attract media attention.  After all, being the world champion of Duel Monsters in both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City would attract the media if an investigation into his disappearance were leaked out.  The phone rang, and Grandpa picked it up.

            "Moshi moshi," he greeted trying to hide his worry.

            "Listen up," the person replied, "You hang up, Yugi dies."

            "Nani?!"

            "Listen!  Just shut up.  You want him back?"

            "Yes!" he said, getting Jounouchi's attention.

            "I said shut up.  To get him back, just bring me his duel monster's deck.  Ok?  I don't care about those fake god cards I heard about, just his deck."

            "But they're…"

            "I said shut up!  I don't care what Malik said…!"

            A slight pause came, tensing Grandpa up inside.  He then heard a short breath of relieve from the other side.

            "Ok, look.  I'm sending Seto Kaiba a picture of Yugi with a copy of the letter you found.  How hard was that to find, however?"

            "I didn't find it…"

            "What?!  Who did!?  Some media guy?!  Because, if this gets out…"

            "No!  One of his friends found it."

            "Who!?  Mazaki?  Honda?"  
            "Jounouchi."

            Another pause came.

            "Is he there?"

            "Yes."

            "Put him on!" he snapped.

            Grandpa pulled the receiver away from his ear and looked over to Jounouchi.

            "I think it's the kidnapper.  He wants to talk to you."

            "Huh?"

            The man sat in his swivel chair as he waited for his demands to be met.

            "Moshi moshi?" he heard from the receiver.

            "Is this Jounouchi?"

            "Yes, you son of a…"

            "Shut up!  And listen well," he snapped again, "I want you to go to Seto Kaiba and personally deliver the deck to me…both of you!  He'll know where."

            He slammed the phone down hard.


	4. Where a Duelist’s Soul Lies

A/N:  Hey, I just wanted to say 1) thank you for reviewing my story, and 2) sorry for not updating sooner.  New Year's celebration you know (non-alcoholic one).  Anyway, here's chapter three.

Chapter 3:  Where a Duelist's Soul Lies

Jounouchi slammed the phone down when he heard the dial tone, cursing at assailant.

            "Of all the damn things in this world…"

            "What did he say, Jounouchi?" Grandpa asked in concern.

            "He wants me to have Kaiba and me to deliver Yugi's deck to him…  Damn it!"

            Jounouchi almost pounded his fist, but remembered he was still leaning on the display case of the store and did not want to damage Grandpa's property.  Suddenly, someone flung the front door open, startling them both.  

            "Jounouchi," the figure that opened the door said, "So you know about this too…"

            Stepping forward, Seto Kaiba, in his battle city outfit and duel disk on his arm, went to the two others in the store.  

            "How did you know so quickly, Kaiba?" Jounouchi asked.

            "The fool somehow got my personal fax number and sent me a picture of Yugi bound up in what looked like a cage," he answered.

            "Nani!?" both Jounouchi and Grandpa said shocked.

            "How dare that bastard!" Jounouchi yelled afterwards, "I'll kill him!"

            "Baka," Kaiba replied, "He will kill Yugi in a matter of hours unless I can take his deck to him."

            "Hm.  He must not have stated this on the fax, but he wants me to deliver it too."

            "He is an idiot," Kaiba said, "Bringing more witnesses into the situation isn't the wisest thing to do if he wants to keep it hidden."

            "That doesn't matter," Grandpa said, "What matters is he has Yugi, and that means I go too."

            "Fine," Kaiba replied, "I understand that.  Just get his deck and meet me outside.  My limo will take us to my jet.  Mokuba is having it fueled right now."

            Jounouchi thought for a moment.  It would be easy to just hand over his deck, but he thought of the consequences of that action.  Yugi's deck was one of his most prized possessions, especially his Black Magician (Dark Magician).  

            "Let me get his deck, Gramps," he requested.

            "Sure, Jounouchi."

            He put the Millennium Puzzle down on a nearby drawer and looked thought his room for Yugi's deck.  The spirit then appeared, sitting on Yugi's bed and immediately putting his attention to one side of the room.

            _"It's over there on there, Jounouchi," _he heard the sad spirit of the Puzzle say.

            He went over to where he was pointing and got the deck holder it was in.  After taking it out, he carefully looked over the cards that were in it.  His eyes wavered as he got to the Black Magician.

            "That bastard!" he snapped, "It's like he's taking his fighting spirit."

            _"I don't like it anymore than you do," _the spirit replied, _"but Yugi will build another one though not with the same essence.  The important think is…"_

            The spirit looked down at the ground as seemed to get irritated.  Jounouchi looked at the deck for a moment more before he heard someone make a quick "tigh" sound.  He turned around to see the spirit making his fist tighter.

            "Are you ok?" he asked.

            _"You're right.  I should have done something.  If I had just taken over a split second earlier…  Shit!" _the other Yugi said hammering his fist to his leg.

"Spirit…"

            He looked up and saw Jounouchi was in a position to slap him.  Even though he knew it wouldn't do anything, the spirit was taken back by the gesture alone.

            "Look," Jounouchi explained putting his hand down, "that won't do anything.  The only thing that matters now is to get Yugi back.  Sulking isn't going to help."

            The spirit looked back down.

            _"I'm sorry.  You're right."_

            Jounouchi looked at Yugi's deck again, and then put it in his pocket and took out his own deck, confusing the spirit.  Jounouchi began to walk out of the room.

            _"Jounouchi-kun, what are you doing?"_

            "I'm going to try to negotiate with my own deck.  I can't just hand his to some maniac."

            _"You would give your own fighting spirit?"_

            "For Yugi…yes…"

            _"Then take me too," _the spirit replied, _"I may be able to protect Yugi if he is conscious enough."_

            "Are you sure?" he asked.

            _"Yes.  I can't take over your body, but I want to help in anyway I can."_

            "I think he will want you to be there…"

            The spirit got up from the bed and looked at Jounouchi for a while before disappearing.  Jounouchi just took up the Millennium Puzzle and put it around his neck.  He saw Grandpa downstairs as he walked out of Yugi's room and went to save his best friend.

            He saw the light again, along with the silhouette of the person in the doorway.  This time, Yugi was fully conscious and aware of his surroundings.  He was in a cage that was in a tiled room.  The cage itself was about six feet tall and was slightly rusted at the bottom.  It was pitch black, though, so it was the best he could come up with.  

            _"At least this time, I might be able to see his face."_

            "Ah," the figure said, "You're out of the dazed state.  Good."

            Yugi tried to say something, but with tape over his mouth, only a muffled sound emitted.  

            "Hm.  Well, I'm sure now you have something to say while not being high…"

            Suddenly, the room brightened, revealing everything in it.  He finally saw the room itself, but more importantly, he saw the man who was talking to him.  He was about 5 feet in height and looked like to be his late thirties with a brown overcoat.  As the man took out some keys, Yugi noticed the holster under his coat with a pistol inside.  The man unlocked the door to the cage and took out the gun:  a stainless steel Colt Defender.  He also noticed that his voice was American, but he obviously knew how to speak Japanese.

            "Now, I don't want any trouble with you, ok?" he said waving it back and forth.

            Yugi just nodded his head.  He went to the bound teenager, squatted down, and quickly removed the tape.  

            "Ok Yugi, I know you have questions," the man stated.

            "Who are you?" he asked after a while.

            "I knew that would be the first question.  My name is Norman Johnson, and I am the person who kidnapped you."

            "Why did you bring me here?" Yugi asked.

            "Simple, my little guest:  revenge."

            "I don't know you.  What did I do to you?"

            "Hm.  You've done plenty, and it all goes back to one of your opponents in the Battle City tournament…Malik Ishtar!"

            "Malik!" Yugi said in shock.

            "Yes.  That once great criminal mind is the reason I hate you," Norman said getting up, "As you know, Malik Ishtar started the Ghouls organization, but he created it out of several card trading gangs, one of which I was the leader of."

"So, the rare hunters I saw in battle city…some of them were with your group?"

"Yes," he answered, "I did loaned some of my goons to Malik when the tournament started."

            "You mean like Pandora and the light and dark mask duelists?"

            "No.  Just grunts, you might say.  Mostly to do the dirty work if the need arose.  Malik might have used them to spy on other duelists or even take their cards…"

            Suddenly, Yugi began to remember such individuals, thinking back to the "people" Malik talked about that were spying on his friends and the person who had the remote to the crane explosive device at the pier where Anzu was held hostage.

"Like I said," Norman continued, "This all goes back to the gangfs that were turned into the Ghouls organization.  Malik did recruit six other gangs, though I don't know how…"

            _"The Millennium Rod?" _Yugi assumed in his mind.

            "…But, he was able to 'hook' my gang with the promises of riches if I would be his partner in the States.  You'd be surprised how far his rule over the black market went with Duel Monster cards.  Under his leadership, I made a fortune.  I had everything:  a mansion, several cars, a luxury boat, several casino ratchets on my own time, ect.  Malik and I made a great team here in America, and with the advent of his new card duplication technique, we were on the verge of making it big…"

            Yugi saw a sudden change in his attitude.  While he was talking, the man's apparent attitude was content, but now, he seemed sad, cold, and distant.  

            "But, before that happened, Seto Kaiba announced Battle City.  Malik told me he was going to leave Egypt to go to Japan for the tournament.  I later learned he was looking for some god cards I knew had to be fake, but I thought he was trying to get them to sell to the highest bidder.  Then, a week after it ended, the Ghouls just disappeared.  Not only that, Malik gave Kaiba a list of all the card dealers he controlled.  Needless to say, just before he was going back to Japan after he began to set up his stupid theme park, Kaiba gave a copy of the list to the American authorities.  My gang was hunted down, and they took all of my possessions for evidence.  All I had was my super sonic jet and a few thousand dollars."

            He turned around suddenly and pointed at Yugi.

            "And it's all your fault!"  
            "Nani!?"

            "He disbanded the Ghouls because of you!  I finally found out you beat him in the finals, and that must have caused him to squeal on all of us!"

            "No!" Yugi replied, "Malik was misguided and also was taken over by his darker side, and after he was saved from it, he realized what he was doing…"

            "SHUT UP!!" he yelled pointing his gun to the teenager.

            _"This guy's nuts," _he thought.

            Norman took a deep breath and lowered the gun.  He bent down again get closer to Yugi.  

            "Sorry about that.  I get angry about that little topic.  Seto Kaiba and your friend will be here in a few hours, at least that's my estimate based on the time it took me to get from Tokyo to Seattle, and I gave Kaiba the location here.  We're high in the mountains in a base my gang built to test replicating the duel computer of Kaiba's duel disk system, just before we got caught."

            "What do you want?"

            "Your deck and to see you suffer.  The cards will get me some money, and the suffering is a surprise, but I can tell you that from watching you for the past week in Domino, the perfect form of suffering will be delightful.  After this, I'm going south…way south to settle down…"

            "But…" Yugi said before Norman put the tape over his mouth again.

            "That's enough for now…  Hm.  Even for a small build, there's something about you…"

            Yugi went wide-eyed as Norman pinned his shoulder to the cage wall with his free hand.  Suddenly, there was a beeping sound coming from outside the room's door.  He just smiled and got up.  

            "Well, finish this later…"

            He got outside the cage and locked it, went to the entrance of the room, closed the lights, and shut the door.

            _"I take that back.  He's not nuts; he's insane!" _he thought, _"And what does he mean 'friend?'  Anzu?  Jounouchi?  Honda?  Who ever it is…and Kaiba-kun…be careful…"  _


	5. Base Delta

Chapter 4:  Base Delta

Seto's car stopped at the runway of Domino Airport, and the three passengers got out.

            "Kaiba, isn't it dangerous to be here like this?" Jounouchi asked in concern.

            "Hm.  I own this strip of runway and the concord jet that will be here in a matter of seconds from that bay," Kaiba answered pointing to the bay.

            With that, the bay doors opened and the jet rolled its way to the starting point of take off.  As it stopped, the three of them walked to the entrance opening from its side.  Mokuba came out and headed towards his brother.

            "Niisama," he addressed Seto, "The plane is ready.  You should reach your destination in about five hours."

            "That's fine by me," Grandpa said.

            "Nani?" Jounouchi complained, "I've got to be in the same cabin as Kaiba for five hours?"

            "Baka," Seto replied, "This is among the fastest aircraft in the world, one of the only ones not dismantled.  Be glad I am not making you take a third-class flight in a regular one.  Besides, this has two small bedrooms in it if you want to get away."

            "What do I do now, Niisama?" Mokuba asked.

            "I want you to go back to Kabia Corporation and use the satellites to watch that location.  I don't want anyone coming in or out without my knowing.  Keep me updated."

            "Hai," he said before going towards the limo.

            "Motou-sama," he addressed Grandpa, " with your permission, I would like one of my top doctors is coming along incase Yugi has been injured.  Taking him to a facility in America will definitely cause a media uproar.  This way, we can get him on the plane and treat him while going back to Japan."

            "Hai.  You have my permission.  Thank you, Kaiba," Grandpa said.

            All of them got on the jet, and the pilot came on the speaker. 

            "Good afternoon, Kaiba-sama," he said on the speaker, "We will take off in ten minutes."

Kaiba only nodded to a camera on the corner of a wall and sat down at a small table next to a window.  Jounouchi looked around, seeing the plane was long, but had only the small lounging room, the two bedrooms Seto had mentioned, and the cockpit.  It was obvious that it had been a commercial plane, but it was renovated to accommodate Seto, Mokuba, and several of his staff on board.  The doctor he had mentioned a while ago was checking over his small care center in the left bedroom.

            "Kaiba," Grandpa said, "Where is Yugi?"

            "The note the kidnapper gave me had precise latitude coordinates, placing it in a small mountain several miles from the city called Seattle."

            "How do we know he's telling the truth?" Jounouchi asked.

            "We don't, but he gave us twelve hours to get there, and we've already used up two of them."  

            Jounouchi and Grandpa just groaned in disappointment.

            "And I've been meaning to ask you, Jounouchi," Kaiba said, "Why the hell do you have Yugi's puzzle around your neck?"

            "The other Yugi wants to come too."

            "Hm.  I don't know how he can help, but he better listen well…"

            Jounouchi could feel the spirit come out from behind him.

            "…This is the ultimate sign I have buried my hatred with Alcatraz Island."

            Jounouchi just looked at him poker-faced as the other Yugi disappeared from his back.  

            The plane landed on the landing path of the airport, and all of the passengers could see that it was lightly raining outside, almost reflecting their emotions at that point in time.  

            "Enjoy your stay here, Kaiba-sama," the pilot said over the intercom as the plane came to a complete stop, and the exit door rolled down.  As he stepped out, Seto could see some of his American employees awaiting him.  As he stepped down from the plane, one of them rushed over to him with an open umbrella and shielded Seto from the rain.

            "Kaiba-sama," one of them said in Japanese as Seto took the umbrella, "The all-terrain vehicle is ready."

            "Good," he replied, "Did you get the map Mokuba asked you to bring?"

            "Yes.  We've even drawn a detailed path for the trip."

            "Good.  Do you have an extra umbrella?"

            "Yes, but this rain won't last long, so all you will have to worry about is the muddy terrain."

            "Give the umbrella to the older man."

            "But, we have another for your other guest…"

            "He can take care of himself."

            The lights came on again.

            _"Dang it!" _Yugi thought, _"I almost got these ropes off."_

            Norman unlocked the door to the cage and took out an object that looked like a toy gun.  Confused, Yugi looked at the object with more detail.  

            "Don't worry," he said, "It's just a potent tranquilizer.  We used this when we needed anyone to stay down for at least half a day.  It induces sleep and doesn't contain any high concentrations of any one ingredient, so the person wouldn't be overdosed."

            Norman squatted down and held it sideways so Yugi could see the side of the object.  He pulled the trigger and a long hypodermic needle shot out, mildly shocking Yugi.

            "It is long because it's used to get though clothing.  I need you to get to sleep, so I can display you to Seto and what appears to be your grandfather and Jounouchi.

            _"Oh no!  Grandpa!  Why did you come?!  This guys dangerous!!  Jounouchi and Kaiba are though, but you're is another story…"_

Suddenly, Norman looked down lower to Yugi's backside and saw the rope around his wrist was worn down by scrapping.  

            "You must have used the cage's rusted bars to slowly tear away at the ropes," he said smiling, "I understand, but you do know I can't allow that."

            He got up again and got out a vial of liquid and inserted it into the needle gun.  Squatting down again, Norman was retracted the needle back.  Yugi suddenly used his restrained legs to kick Norman back, throwing him off balance, as he was squatting.  In frustration, he got up again and quickly pinned the teenager to the cage wall with one hand on his chest.

            "Now, now," he said with a threatening voice, "We can't have that, you little fucker."

            He put the needle gun to Yugi's arm and pulled the trigger.  Yugi could feel the needle entering him, but it was so quick, there was no pain.  Norman retracted the needle and got up again, and then Yugi could feel himself get drowsy.  He struggled to stay awake, but his eyelids would not agree.  After he fell unconscious, Norman picked him up and laid him down at the center of the cage.  He took out a pocketknife and cut away the rope.

            "There.  I couldn't risk you trying to break out, but now you won't wake up until I've finished my little 'surprise' for you, and your grandfather is a perfect addition."

  He took out a remote control and pushed a button on it.  The roof of the room opened up, and the cage was lifted into a higher level.  

            The vehicle went up the mountain with relative ease as Seto piloted it.  Jounouchi and Grandpa were bumped around in the back as the vehicle made an unusual abrasion in the mud.  

            "How much longer Kaiba?" Grandpa asked.  

            "Not long.  It should be another half-mile according to the coordinates…"

            Suddenly, a loud bang, muffled by the vehicle's engine, was made, and something ripped though the hood of the vehicle and hit the engine.  As Jounouchi and Grandpa shouted at the event, another object hit the hood.  Seto, surprised by the two objects, felt the vehicle stall.  Smoke started to come from the hood, and he stopped the vehicle all together.  After Seto pick up his duel disk from the passenger seat and put it on, the three of them got out just as a shot was heard, and the front windshield cracked outward to the edges.  All of them ran away from the vehicle until they got to a safe distance from it.

            "What the hell was that?" Jounouchi huffed from the run.

            "It sounded like a gun?" Grandpa wheezed.

            "Damn it," Seto cursed, "I can't see anything with all these trees…"

            Another shot was heard and they ran again.  Grandpa, despite his age, seemed to sprint faster than the other two, though Jounouchi was yelling with Grandpa as another shot was fired.  They ran for a more few yards when the saw a cave.

            "Let's take cover in there!" Jounouchi shouted.

            The others did not even have to answer as they ran for the small cave.  As they entered it, a slab of rock came up at the entrance and sealed them in.  

            "Great," Jounouchi huffed again, "Now we're stuck."

            "At least we're safe from who ever was firing at us…at least I hope," Grandpa wheezed.

            Seto, after a quick breath, began to look around at the cave.  He walked forward and noticed a light fixture at the roof of the cave.

            _"Must have been activated when the slab closed,"_ he thought, _"which means this cave was formed or modified with human hands…"_

            "Kaiba, what are you doing?" Jounouchi asked puzzled.

            Seto only looked around for a moment until he saw a rock pattern on the wall of the cave.  He casually walked to it and felt around the corners until he heard a clicking noice.  Both Grandpa and Jounouchi were surprised when a small slab of rock lowered down to reveal a door.

            "What the?" Jounouchi said, mouth open.

            "The formation of this rock is in the shape of Delta," Seto explained pointing to the rock formation on the wall, "and even the stupidest person knows that triangular shapes are not formed naturally."

            "Uh, yeah," Jounouchi said scratching the back of his head and smiling, "Of course.  Everyone knows that…"

            Seto and Grandpa were already though the door before Jounouchi took off after them.

            "Oye…  Wait up…"

            After five minutes of walking, they reached a well-sized room with a large opening to another room.  Off to one side of the room were several plastic casings, each in a small, rectangular shape, along with several shut down computers and telephones with de-bugging equipment.  

            "What is this place?" Grandpa asked.

            "A card dealing hide-out," Kaiba answered, "This is probably where a gang sold stolen or fake cards."

            "And thanks to you, Mr. Kaiba," a voice said from the other room, "You shut it down."

            All of them turned their attention towards the opening to the next room, where a man with a brown over coat was standing with a gun in his hand.  


	6. Master of Torture

A/N:  Hey guys. First off, I'd like to thank those who have reviewed so far (I didn't think I'd get this many), and second, sorry for taking my time in updating (class registration can be a pain), but I will finish putting the story up this week.  Anyway, on to the next chapter.   

Chapter 5:  Master of Torture

            All three of them prepared themselves as the man stood there with his gun fixed at them.  

            "Hello Kaiba.  And, you must be Sugoroku Motou and Katsuya Jounouchi," he said looking at the other two, "I've been waiting…"

            "Who are you?!" Jounouchi demanded.

            "My name is Norman Johnson.  I was a card dealer until Kaiba gave a list of us, from Malik, to the authorities here.  Since then, I've been setting up this place for my revenge upon Yugi, who caused all this by defeating Malik."

            "Let my grandson go!" Grandpa shouted, "He did what he had to do!"

            "Shut up, you old fart.  Yugi's going to die after I deal with you."

            "You asshole!" Jounouchi yelled, "If you hurt him, you will have signed your death warrant!"

            _"He must really be Yugi's best friend,"_ Norman thought, _"He's the one to be the victim of my little toy, but I will kill Kaiba first."_

            "Oh well, I mustn't stay too long.  But before I go, I must take care of the one who gave this list to the authorities…"

            Kaiba knew he was referring to him, as Norman pointed the gun at the target.

            "See you in hell, Seto Kaiba!"

            With out hesitation, Seto raised his duel disk sideways to Norman's eye level, tilted his head to the right, and activated it.  This fired the two holographic emitters out of the disk to Seto's front and back, but at close proximity and high speed, the one in front hit Norman in the face, causing him to divert his attention.  Seto took this opportunity to rush to him and slap the gun from his hand, knocking into the larger room.  However, Norman took out a taser from his pocket and shocked Seto with the electrical discharge.  With him stunned, Norman shoved Seto back and took off to the other room.  

            "Oh no you don't!" Jounouchi yelled as he ran into the room.

            Grandpa went to Seto and attended to him.  Then, two blast doors closed from the top and bottom of the only connection to the two rooms.  Seto struggled to a sitting position before Grandpa could help him up.

            "Are you ok, Kaiba?" he asked.

            "I think so.  But, that idiot is now in that man's clutches.  We've got to get in there."

            "But how?"

            "I don't know.  Those doors look like they are designed to take the explosion of a rocket…but they are probably controlled by a computer…!"

            Seto touched the KC pin oh his jacket.

            "Mokuba, can you here me?"

            "Hai," his brother replied, "And I got the whole thing recorded."

            "Can you detect a computer system in this place?"

            "No Niisama."

            "Kaiba, what about those computer's there?" Grandpa said.

            "That's it.  We could use them to interface with the system here.  Mokuba," he addressed, "Can you hack into the system if I can get an uplink to it?"

            "Hai."

            Seto took out a wire from his pocket and attached it to his duel disk then hooked it up to the back of the computer and finally turned the computer on.

            "If the duel disk is connected to the Kaiba Corporation satellite system, it should be able to let Mokuba interface with it thanks to the new upgrade to let the signal get though even inside a building," Seto explained to Grandpa.

            "Got it, Niisama.  It will take me a while to get into the system that controls the blast doors."

Jounouchi stopped running when he heard the blast door close.  He tried to run back, but they closed before he was half way there.  

            _"Damn!  I shouldn't have been so impulsive!"_

He turned around to see a dim lighted room, though he could make out several lights that seemed to belong to computer terminals.  He walked forward cautiously.

            _"Jounouch-kun,"_ he heard the Spirit say, _"I can sense Yugi in this room, but he is still unconscious!"_

            _"That bastard, Norman, must be here too…and he probably has that gun of his as well."_

            He then heard a devious laugh from the other side of the room.

            "Welcome Jounouchi," Norman said, "to my site of revenge."

            "Kisama, show yourself!" he commanded.

            The lights turned on, and the Spirit of the Puzzle came out in spirit form.  Both of them saw that it was a large room with holographic emitters to either side to which the terminals were attached.  Norman was on the other side of the high roofed room, but Jounouchi immediately saw a cage where an unconscious Yugi was laying to the kidnapper's left.

            "Yugi!!" he yelled out.

            "Don't bother," Norman said, "he's out for a while, but he'll come back, good as new, in a few hours."

            "Let him go!" Jounouchi demanded as he ran to the cage.

            Norman, however, took out his Colt Defender, which stopped Jounouchi in his tracks.  He waved the gun to signal the blond teenager to step back, to which the teenager did.

            "Fine," he said smiling, "On one condition.  You must beat me in a special duel."

            "Nani!?"

            "You heard me.  I even have a pair of duel disks for this event," he said taking out two disks.

            "What's the catch?" Jounouchi asked.

            "Nothing much.  You do have Yugi's deck, don't you?"

            "It's with me."

            "I will allow you to use it."

            "Nani?"

            "I was planning on using this on Yugi himself, but plans change you know.  I want to test my recreation of Kaiba's system before I 'retire' from this business."

            _"I can't do that!" he thought, _"I can't use his fighting spirit like this…"__

_            "Jounouch-kun," _the Spirit said, _"Yes you can."_

_            "Nani…"_

_            "Listen, I'm with you now.  Yugi would want you to use it if it meant fighting for someone you care about."_

_            "Maybe…but I don't know how to use it."_

_            "Then maybe you could use part of it."_

_            "What do you mean?" _Jounouchi thought as he saw the other Yugi in front of him in his mind.

            _"The power of friends is what empowers us, Jounouchi.  If you want to fight with Yugi's spirit, you must unify it with your own."_

_            "You mean…the decks…"_

_            "Hai.  I will guild you.  You have your deck and Yugi's…your fighting spirits combined will win!"_

"Norman!" he shouted, "I will duel with a combination both of Yugi's and my deck!"

            "What?  Oh well.  It's only delaying the inevitable.  I guess you'll want some time to construct it.  Ten minutes!"

            Jounouchi took out both decks from his pockets and sat down on the floor.  As he looked though them, the other Yugi helped him in the process as Jounouchi began to mumble to him.

            _"What the hell is he talking to," Norman thought, _"He must be going crazy."__

            Ten minutes passed, and Jounouchi got up.  

            "I'm ready."

            "Good," Norman replied throwing a duel disk to Jounouchi, "However, I will be using a custom set of card I created myself."

            "Custom cards?"

            "Yes.  These are fake card in the real game, but I've programmed the duel computer to accept them, and they are extremely unfair to the average player.  I thought about submitting these to Malik, but we know that's impossible now."

            _"Great!  Now he's using fake cards."_

_            "We can do this, Jounouchi."_

            "But," Norman added,  "What fun would this be without a little death to go with it…"

            "Nani!?"

            Suddenly, the floor under Jounouchi moved forward and two poles, connected by a ring, came up from under him as it stopped.  The twenty-inch long ring came up to his hips and began to make a hissing noise. Astonished, he could only watch as, in a single second, an inflated air bag, similar to an old blood pressure machine, held him tightly in place, and a small twenty-inch by five-inch slot in the floor opened up from under him.

            "What is this?" he questioned.  

            "It's simple, Jounouchi.  Do you know of the impaling method of execution in the Middle Ages of Europe?"

            "Not really.  I don't pay much attention in World History class."

            "Too bad.  It will be used in this duel.  If, and when, your life points drop to zero, this method will carry itself out.  A good-sized, pointed spike in below you, and when you lose, it will slowly come up.  Since you cannot move your lower torso, it will make its way up to your poor, poor butt.  After such time, it will penetrate your clothes and make its way up your rectal."

            Jounouchi twitched in disgust.

            "It will take time for it to move up inside your body and reach your heart to finish you off, so you will experience excruciating pain for…oh…five hours at the minimum."

            "You sick freak."

            "And after this duel," Norman said seemingly not hearing Jounouchi's remark, "I'm going to open the blast doors and kill Kaiba and Yugi's grandfather.  When Yugi does wake up, he will see your impaled body and his dead grandfather, causing a delightful display of despair, sadness, and perhaps even anger from him.  Then, I'll kill him, sell his deck, and hop the next banana boat to some place south…maybe Rio."

            "That's not going to happen," Jounouchi declared.

            "Are you saying you are going to win?"

            "I will win."

            "Then, let me see you prove that."

            The holographic system activated when the disks set themselves and locked into place.  Both of them said the familiar "Duel" before the battle and drew five cards each.

            "I'll allow you the first move," Norman said.

            "Fine," Jounouchi said drawing one more card.

            _"Ok, I've got Card Destruction, Alligator's Sword, Bottomless Trap Hole, Raise Dead (Monster Reborn), Big Shield Gardna, and Magnet Warrior Beta."_

_            "Beta's the best bet for now," _the other Yugi suggested.

            "Magnet Warrior Beta in attack mode," Jounouchi said putting the card down, causing the holographic image to appear, "Set down one card.  End my turn."

            "Ok," Norman said drawing a card, "Summon Gemini Elf in attack mode…"

            "Activate trap card," Jounouchi said pushing the appropriate button, "Bottomless Trap Hole!"

            As the monster appeared, a large pit formed under it.  The two elves shouted as they fell into the hole, its echoes being heard for a couple of seconds.  

            "Damn it!" Norman cursed as the hole closed, "Set one card face down.  End my turn."

            _"This guy shouldn't be too much trouble," Jounouchi thought drawing another card._

            _"But," the other Yugi added, _"He my be trying to deceive you.  We don't know what that face-down card is."__

_            "Hm.  I've fallen into plenty of traps before, but not now."_

            "Magnet Warrior Beta, direct attack!"

            The monster put its magnet hands forward and fired an energy bean at Norman, who felt a small pinch of pain as the attack was executed.  Now his life points were at 2300.  

            "Set one card face-down," Jounouchi said slipping one card into the disk, making the larger image appear face down, "End my turn."

            Norman drew and smiled.

            "Critter (Sangan) ready to attack.  End my turn."

            _"What the hell is he doing?" Jounouchi questioned as the monster appeared._

            _"He must think he's safe."_

_            "What do you mean?"_

_            "I can tell he's not an experienced duelist and must think that you will not attack in fear of Critter's effect."_

_            "Baka," _he thought referring to his opponent, _"In doing so he leaves himself open.  I have to take this opportunity."_

            "Alligator's Sword in attack mode," Jounouchi declared as the sword armed reptile appeared, "Alligator's Sword, attack the Critter!"

            The lizard warrior jumped forward with its sword in a striking position.  

            "Fool!" Norman shouted.

            He pushed a button on the duel disk.  Jounouchi's monster was within inches of the Critter when a red beam fired from behind it and stopped the attack.

            "Nani?!"

            "You've fallen into my little trap, you idiot."

            Jounouchi saw the beam coming from Norman's now revealed face down card.  It turned into a stone tower with thorns growing around it, a pentagram at the top, and a ring of people chanting around it.

            "What the heck is that?" Jounouchi asked.  


	7. Evil Conduit

Chapter 6:  Evil Conduit

            Jounouchi looked warily at the structure as he could feel the Spirit also looking at it.  As the Alligator's Sword seemed to be caught in its crimson ray, Norman softly laughed making sure Jounouchi heard it.

            "Don't worry about that.  It's just my Demonic Channeling Tower trap card."

            "Demonic Channeling Tower?" Jounouchi questioned.

            "It's one of the cards I created," Norman explained, "among my best in the set too.  It's activated when my opponent declares an attack against either a demon (fiend) or magic user (spell caster) monster.  The attack value of the monster that just attacked can be added to any of my magic user or demon-type monsters."

            "Nani!"

            "Since your Alligator's Sword attacked, 1500 attack points will be added to my Critter, brining it up to 2500."

_"Great.  I'll bet his whole deck is nothing but demons and magic users."_

The Alligator's Sword was released from the beam, but another beam came from the tower and hit the three-eyed monster, making it grow bigger.  Since the attack was still declared, Jounouchi's monster attempted battle, but the Critter struck back by firing three beams from its eyes.  Jounouchi's monster was pushed back and broke up into pieces.  His life points were now at 3000.  

            "Damn!" he said, "I will switch Beta to defense.  End my turn."

            "Poor, poor Jounouchi," Norman said drawing a card, "It's too bad.  The Tower is a continuous trap, and as long as its effect stays on the field, the increase my monsters get from your attacks will also be continuous.  Not to mention it cannot be destroyed by anything, and you cannot attack my life-points directly."

            "What kind of card is that?  It's way too powerful!" Jounouchi protested.

            "Maybe, but if you want to get Yugi back, you will have to deal with it."

            _"Damn, he's right," Jounouchi thought, _"And I can't get out because this stupid holding device."__

            "Critter," Norman commanded, "Attack Magnet Warrior Beta!"

            The enlarged creature lunged at Beta and slashed it to pieces before it was destroyed.  

            "Now things are heating up," he said taking a card from his hand, "Summon Devil's Priest in attack mode.  End my turn."

            As the card was displayed, Jounouchi could see it was a magic user before it transformed into the monster itself.  Also, its attack and defense were 1500 and 1800 respectively.  

            _"He could have attacked with Critter and that fake card, but he summoned it after he attacked…"_

_            "He's either very confident or my theory about him is correct.  He must only know some aspects of the game.  That could be an advantage."_

_            "How?" _Jounouchi asked, _"That card will make all attacks against him harmful."_

_            "Maybe, but if he does not know some aspects of the game, then he may have left vulnerabilities in his fake cards that he does not know about."_

_            "For now, though, I need to prevent him from getting to my live points," _Jounouchi thought as he drew a card.

            "Big Shield Gardna in defense," he said, "and set one card face-down.  End my turn."

            "Trying to protect yourself, I see.  My turn," he said reaching for his deck, "Draw card!"

            Seto and Grandpa looked intensely at the computer screen as they saw menus open and close.  Mokuba was still hacking his way into the hideout's network to find the door controls.

            "Niisama," his voice said from Seto's pin, "It will take some time to find the proper commands."

            "Keep trying," Seto said.

            "I wish I could see what's going on in there," Grandpa said looking at the blast doors.

            "Maybe I can do that," Mokuba replied, "It won't divert the computer's attention to see if there are working cameras in the other room."

            "Good," Seto said, "Try doing that as well, Mokuba."

            "Hai."

            _"I just hope Jounouchi keeps him from trying to get away until we can open the doors.  For Yugi's sake, he better not get himself killed."_

            The situation was the same.  Jounouchi only had one monster and one face-down card with 3000 life points, where as Norman had a power up monster on the field and a fake monster with only 2300 life points.  

            "Sacrifice the Devil's Priest to summon the Duke of Ghosts (Earl of Demise) ready to attack.  Set one card, and that ends my turn."

            "It's my turn," Jounouchi said drawing.

            _"Magic Cylinders!"_

_            "And the Black Magician Girl is in hand.  But we need time to safely pull this off."_

_            "I'll take care of that."_

            "Activate magic card:  Swords of Revealing Light."

            The card flipped up and glowed.  Several swords of light appeared above Norman and came down around him and his monsters, sealing any attacks.  

            "Sacrifice Big Shield Gardna to summon Black Magician Girl (Dark Magician Girl)," he stated as the shield monster disintegrated and replaced by the female mage, "Set one card on the field face down, and end my turn."

            Norman drew a card and looked over to Jounouchi.

            "Tell me, Jounouchi, how close are you to Yugi?"

            "Why do you want to know?" he asked coldly.

            "I just want to know how much despair I can expect from him when I show him your impaled, lifeless body to him."

            "That's not going to happen."

            "Oh yes it will.  I can see it now."

            "You really are a sick asshole."

            "Watch it, kid," he said taking out his gun with his free hand, "I could just shot you and be done with it."

            "So why do this elaborate scene?"

            "Just my goal.  I would rather save a plain shooting for someone like Kaiba."

            _"That's what I thought."_

_            "What?" _the other Yugi asked.

            _"He's crazy, but he won't use the gun.  He wants to live out his sick fantasy."_

_            "That's a dangerous game to play, Jounouchi.  I hope your right."_

"Niisama," Mokuba said, "I found a working camera in the next room."

            "What's happening in there?" his big brother asked.

            "Well, see for yourself."

            The computer displayed a window showing the actions of the next room in clear detail.  Both of them were surprised to see Jounouchi in the torso restraint and the fact he and Norman were dueling.  

            "Yugi!" Grandpa said as soon as he saw his grandson in the cage beside Norman.

            "He's buying time," Seto said before something caught his attention, "Black Magician Girl!"

            "What's that monster doing on Jounouchi's field?" Mokuba asked.

            "He must be using Yugi's deck," Grandpa replied.

            "Hm.  He probably realized his own cards are too weak really win."

"Anyway," Norman said, "let's continue.  I think I will get rid of those little obstacles."

            Jounouchi prepared himself.

            "First.  I shall use this," he said inserting another card into the duel disk, "Tornado (Mystical Space Typhoon) and get rid of your Swords."

            Jounouchi watched in shock as his major defense was whisked away by whirling winds around Norman.  

            "Next, I shall have Critter attack your only monster.  Critter, attack the Black Magician Girl!"

            The monster's eyes began to glow as they fired three beams at the mage girl.

            _"Activate it now, Jounouchi!"_

"Activate trap:  Magic Cylinders!"

            Suddenly, two tubes appeared on both side of the Black Magician Girl.  As the Critter's eye beams got closer to the mage girl, they were drawn into the left tube and reemerged out of the right one, firing them back towards the monster.

            "Got it!"

            Suddenly, the beams were drawn towards the Channeling Tower, shocking Jounouchi and the other Yugi.  After being absorbed into it, a beam fired and hit the Critter, and its attack power rose to 5000.  

            "Idiot.  Even my own attack can be channeled," Norman gloated, "Since I really can't attack, I'll end my turn."

            Jounouchi looked at his deck and drew a card.  Looking at it, he was surprised at first, but it quickly turned to joy.  Norman wondered what was so good about the card his opponent just drew, but Jounouchi could see it. It was one that could turn the duel around:  Android Psycho Shocker.  Jounouchi looked at the card with glee as now he had a plan.  

            "Sacrifice Black Magician Girl for Android Psycho Shocker (Jinzo)!" he stated as the mage girl was replaced with the tall cyborg monster.

            Norman was taken back by this action but quickly smiled.

            "So what?  That monster cannot match mine.  I'll just have my 5000 attack powered Critter attack that."

            "Who said your Critter is at 5000?" Jounouchi sarcastically asked smiling.

            "What?"

            _"Your right, Spirit.  He doesn't know much about the other aspects of the game."_

_            "Great.  Now use it to your advantage."_

"Let me enlighten you," he told Norman, "Android Psycho Shocker's special effect is to destroy any trap cards on the field."  (Anime-effect only)

            "Big fucking deal.  The Tower can't be destroyed."

            "So," Jonouchi continued, "Shocker will do the next best thing.  Negate it!"

            Norman when bug eyed as he saw the Tower turned back into the holographic card image.  

            "What the hell!?  What's going on?  That card is invincible!"

            "You designed these cards with limited knowledge of this game, so you could not have anticipated every vulnerability.  For someone who make his living off of illegal trading of these cards, you sure don't have the sense to learn the game."

            "Damn it!" Norman cursed.

            "Now," Jounouchi commanded, "Android Psycho Shocker, attack the Critter!"

            Android Psycho Shocker formed a ball of energy and fired it at the small monster.  

            "You idiot.  The Critter is still at 5000 attack power."

            "Look again."

            Norman turned his attention to his monster and watched in horror as his powerful monster shrunk in size and attack power.

            "No!  How…?"

            "You card says 'as long as the effects is active.'  With it negated, you can no longer keep the power up."

            Norman's monster finally reached its original state, and the Psycho Shocker's attack hit, causing the monster to fade out of existence.  Norman looked at his duel disk and saw his life points drop.

            "Impossible!  My life points can't be affected…shit!  The effect!"

            _"Good work, Jounouch-kun," the other Yugi said, _"His life points are at 900, now."__

"Norman," Jounouchi declared, "With Android Psycho Shocker, I will rescue Yugi.  You should surrender now."

"Never!  It's my turn now," Norman said drawing.

            _"Ok," he thought, __"So this monster can nullify my Tower.  Damn, I should have studied this game more carefully.  I would have put a 'can't be negated' effect on it too."_

            He looked at his hand and quickly turned from doubtful to confident, and he could tell it surprised Jounouchi.  


	8. End Game

Chapter 7:  End Game

            "Ha!  I hope you don't think I will let you get away with this," he said inserting a card, "Activate magic card:  Devil's Seal!"

            As Jounouchi tried to think of what this card did, he saw a pentagram form under the Android Psycho Shocker.  A light field surrounded the monster, trapping it.

            "Nani?!"

            "Surprised Jounouchi?  It's just a little card I thought of that I never would have imagined it would serve me like this."

            "What is it?" he asked as he looked at his encased monster.

            "This magic card encases one monster in a field of arcane magic.  In doing so, it seals its attack and traps any influence it has on the field to that space.  Thus, your Android's negating effect is taken away from the field."

            "No!" Jounouchi said as he waited for what was going to happen.

            "You better bet you're damned now," Norman said as his trap card turned into the Tower again, "Now my monsters will get the boost in power when you attack."

            _"We almost had him…" the other Yugi exasperated._

            "Of course," Norman continued, "I can still attack that Psycho Shocker.  My card only seals it, but I'm not going to attack.  Instead, I shall sacrifice my Duke of Ghosts for the Millennium Shield in defense, and now for my come back."

            "Come back?"

            "I shall now play this:  Soul Selling Deal," he said inserting the card, which displayed itself, "With this card I can discard my hand to return my life points back to the number I began with in the duel."

            "No.  That means…"

            He didn't even finished the sentence before he saw Norman discard his hand and his life points go back up to the original set of 4000.

            "My cards are unbeatable even if I don't have all the information.  Unfortunately, I have to end my turn now due to Soul Selling Deal, but it does not matter.  I want to see your last fleeting hope die when you get impaled."

            Jounouchi drew and looked at the card:  Shield in left hand, Sword in right hand (Shield and Sword).

            _"He's going of on the defense," the other Yugi commented._

_            "Then I can use this."_

_            "No, it's a trap."_

_            "What do you mean?"_

_            "Think about it, Jounouch-kun.  He's summoning a monster that's not a devil or magic user type.  He's luring you to attack, and his life points cannot be reduced with his trap card in effect.  Shield in left hand, Sword in right hand is only good for one turn too, so he will probably summon another devil or magic user after you attack."_

_            "Damn.  And that force field is blocking Android Psycho Shocker's ability and attack."_

_            "If he can be attacked, then you can probably sacrifice it if necessary, but you need its effect."_

_            "Then all I can do is defend…"_

            "Set one monster face down," Jounouchi said as he placed the card, "End my turn."

            "My turn," Norman said as he drew and looked at the card, "Activate this face-down card."

            _"I almost forgot he had a set card…"_

The card revealed itself to Jounouchi:  Pot of Greed.  At first, Jounouchi was confused, as anyone, even Norman, would know that magic card is best used as soon as possible, but he had it down for several turns.

            "Now I can draw two cards," he said as he did so, "And now I activate one of my favorite cards out of this set, a little quick play card called Reversed Hanging of Avarice!"

            "Nani?!"

            "I can activate this when I draw outside of my draw phase.  It deals direct damage to your life points equal to the number of cards I draw times 1000, but it has a little treat to it as well."

            Jounouchi saw what looked like a gallows' beam appear above him.  A noose, attacked to a pulley on the beam, dropped down and caught his neck.  Unfortunately, Jounouchi's hands, when trying to remove it, were pinned to his side by an unseen force.  

            "Don't worry," Norman said gleefully, "These holographic emitters can use small force fields to simulate real thing with direct damage cards.  Malik once told me that these types of cards are dangerous in duels."

Jounouchi tried to say something, but at that time, the rope began to pull up and choke the blonde teenager.  Norman laughed softly at this until Jounouchi's life points dropped to 1000.  The entire hologram then disappeared, and Jounouchi gasped for breath.

            "That's the price of avarice… 'Pier Della Vingna,'" he called Jounouchi, "Now I will also set one monster down, and end my turn.  All that's left now is betray Yugi by losing…"

            Jounouchi, after a few more heavy breaths, drew his card.

            _"Black Magician!" he thought as his eyes widened,_ "Yugi's favorite…"__

_            "Jounouch-kun…" _the other Yugi trailed off.

            _"I…" he thought after several seconds, _"Want to use this…"__

He could feel the other Yugi in front of him.  Everything seemed to trail off as he began to talk to him in his mind.

            _"Why do you want to use this card, Jounouchi?"_

_            "You said Yugi's fighting spirit is in his deck right?"_

_            "Hai."_

_            "If that is the case, this is where it is most concentrated."_

The other Yugi just stared at Jounouchi. 

            _"If any monster is going to help me, this is the one who will help me the most."_

_            "…Ok.  I wouldn't recommend you sacrifice the two monsters you have now; they may be needed later.  You have two cards that can summon it without sacrificing monsters though."_

_            "I do?" _he thought coming back to and looking at his hand, _"That's it!"_

"Ok!  Set one card face down," he said inserting a card, "and activate Card Destruction."

            "Hm." Norman breathed, "Oh well.  Even though I already used my magic card, I guess a new hand will not do you much good."

            Both of them discarded their hands and drew new ones.  Tragically, Jounouchi only was able to pull only magic cards and one two-tribute monster, Gilford the Lightning, but he noticed something.

            _"Hurricane (Grand Trunade)!  I won't destroy the Channeling Tower, but it will get it off the field."_

            "Now, activate magic card:  Raise Dead!"

            The card flipped up, revealing the ankh symbol.

            "And, I chose to resurrect Black Magician!"

            Norman was shocked as the mage appeared, but quickly checked it.

            "Big deal.  You can't penetrate my defense."

            _"Dang it.  I could summon Gilford, destroy his monsters, and use Hurricane to get the Tower off the field to attack his life points directly, but that won't bring his life points down enough to defeat him."_

_            "And he most likely has some demon or magic user cards in his hand," _the other Yugi added, _"And he will set the Tower again and activate it as soon as possible.  We have to defeat him in one turn to win."_

            "End my turn," Jounouchi said sadly.

            "Good, let's see what we've got," Norman said as he drew.

            "Ha…ha ha ha ha!!" he laughed, "Now you will die!  Sacrifice my set down monster to bring out Summoned Demon (Summoned Skull)!"

            Jounouchi gasped as one of Yugi's other deck monsters rose up from a thundercloud on the ground.  Lightning lightly flung in the room, crackling with the echo.

            "Now you're really in a bind, Jounouchi.  Even if you decide to attack with the Black Magician, I'll transfer the power to my Demon and have it attack, bringing your points to zero.  Hell, I'm not going to attack just to see you tremble before you suffer an agonizing death."

            _"No.  I must win this…and in the next turn.  He'll start attacking me eventually.  And I can't activate Gilford's effect unless I sacrifice three monsters.  Even if I can sacrifice Android Shocker…"_

_            "Jounouchi," _the other Yugi said, _"You can win this…we can win this…for Yugi."_

_            "All right.  I must get a winning card.  I have to bet all of it on this one."_

Jounouchi put his fingers on the deck and closed his eyes, not wanting to see the card until he drew it completely.  He could feel the other Yugi also on the deck.  Then he felt something else…Yugi himself.  

            _"I will win this with his fighting spirit.  We will win…"_

Jounouchi drew the card and looked at it.  Norman then saw his opponent smile, but it was different.  This smile began to frighten him.

            _"Why is he smiling?  He should be trebling, preferably begging for mercy…"_

"Activate magic card:  Brain Control!"

            Norman gasped as the card appeared and transformed into a brain with two dark arms at its side.

            "I will take control of Summoned Demon this turn," Jounuchi stated as two hands from the brain grabbed the monster and brought it to his side of the field.

            "Why?  You can't penetrate my defense!"

            "Wrong.  Sacrifice Android Psycho Shocker, my set monster, and Summoned Demon…" he commanded as all three monster disintegrated.

            "Three scarifies!?" Norman questioned.

            "…And, summon Gilford the Lightning!"

            The thunder warrior appeared and lightning flashed across the room.  Suddenly, the lightning fired at the Millennium Shield and destroyed it.

            "AHG!" Norman yelled, "What the fuck happened?!"

            "When Gilford is summoned with three sacrifices, he can destroy all of my opponent's monsters."

            "What?!  No!"

            "And with no demon or magic user monsters, you cannot use the effects of the Channeling Tower."

            _"No!" Norman thought as he looked at the Tower, _"I didn't expect to have this happen…  But wait!"__

            "You little bastard!  You forgot that my life points are safe…  Ha ha ha…"

            "Wrong again, Norman," Jounouchi said calmly holding up the Hurricane card.

            "Huh?" Norman questioned, "You can't destroy the Tower."

            "You really don't know this game, do you?" he near-insulted, "There is a difference between destroyed and removed from the field."

            Jounouchi slipped the card in, calling its name, and a sudden gust of swirling wind burst up and filled the room.  Norman watched in horror as the Tower disappeared and the card itself returned to his hand.  Now, with nothing on his field, he backed up and glued his eyes on Jounouchi's monster.  

"Gilford the Lighting direct attack!" Jounouchi commanded.

            Gilford leaped forward and slashed its sword at Norman.  After the attack, Jounouchi could feel the other Yugi behind him.

            **_"Black Magician," _**they said together, **_"Direct Attack!"_**

The Black Magician pointed his staff at his target, and Norman, for a second, though he saw a hint of anger in the monster's face.  The thought was pushed back as its Black Magic attack hit Norman directly and reduced his life points to zero.

"Yeeeeeahhhhhhhhh!!!" Jounouchi yelled in cheer as he was released from the restraints, the ring and poles dropped back down, and the slot covered up again.  

            Norman suddenly threw off the duel disk and took out his gun.  Jounouchi froze as the loser of the duel pointed it right at Jounouchi's head.

            "Ok, give me the fucking deck and no one gets hurt."

            "I won!" Jounouchi protested, "You said you would release Yugi."

            "I did say that.  Oh well."

            As Norman got closer to Jounouchi, a trap door opened below him.

            "Nani?!" Jounouchi questioned as Norman fell down.

            _"It must be the penalty the opponent gets on that side," _the other Yugi said.

            Norman caught the side of the opening with the hand that was holding the gun.  Jounouchi rushed over to it and saw that Norman was above a pool of water that had bare wires running though it.

            "Damn!" Norman cursed, "I thought I got rid of that command on the computer."

            Suddenly, a voice came on a speaker.

            "Hello duelist," it said, "I assume you've lost the duel."

            "Malik!?" both Jounouchi and Norman said.

            _"This must be when he was still trying to kill me…"_

_            "How?" _Jounouchi asked, _"Is it a recording." _

            "Since you obviously tried to delete this program, I've had one of my men, Pandora, put it back.  If you are Norman, I just want to say that I never liked you, but I needed someone in the states.  You were just a tool, but I hope you like this death game.  You are fond of unorthodox execution methods, so what better way for you to die than this," the voice said before laughing and cutting off.

            "Damn it, Malik, you little fucker," Norman said as he tried to pull himself up.

            Jounouchi grabbed Norman's arm and tried to pull him up.

            "Help me!" he yelled.

            "You've got to help me pull you up.  Let go of the gun."

            "No…  I need it…" he said trying to use his free hand to grab the edge in vain.  

            "Come on," he said trying to pull him up, "Let go of the gun.  If you try to pull up, you're fire it and take me down with you."

            Norman looked down at the pool.  It was too wide for him to swing and throw himself to the edge of it, and he remembered that the wires had over a 100,000 volts running though them once the trap was activated.

            _"If I drop the gun, he'll pull me up, take it, and force me to go to the police.  To hell with that.  At least I won't go alone!"_

            "You know, that's not a bad idea.  Die!" he said pulling the trigger.

            Suddenly, the Millennium Puzzle glowed and temporarily blinded the suicidal man.  He looked up as saw a hideous creature holding on to him instead of Jounouchi.  He tried to fire the gun, but it turned into a snake that was staring at his hand.  As he dropped the gun, he began to claw at the monster with his grabbed arm.  The monster, surprised and shocked, let go of his arm.  Unexpectedly, the monster turned back into a shocked Jounouchi.  Time seemed to stop for him it dawned on him that he frightened the teenager, and he let go due to it.

            _"How…?"_

Suddenly, he could hear another voice in his mind.

            _"Penalty game:  Inner Monster Illusion…"_

            All sound stopped and he saw his opponent get smaller and smaller.  He hit the electrified water and thought no more.


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue

            As the crackling of electricity drowned his enemy's cries out, Jounouchi looked away from Norman's charred body and went to the cage where Yugi was.  An electronic lock released from it and opened the cage door.  Needless to say, Jounouchi rushed to his best friend.

            "Yugi…  Yugi…" he said cradling his head in his arm.  

            There was no response.

            "No…  He can't be…"

            Jounouchi put his ear to the shorter teenager's mouth and heard light breathing.  

            _"Thank goodness," _the other Yugi said.

            "We've got to get him out of here," Jounouchi said picking him up, "Now, how are we going to…?"

            Just as he said that, the blast doors opened up, and Grandpa rushed in upon seeing his grandson in his best friend's arms.

            "Yugi!" he shouted as he went to Jounouchi, "Is he ok?"

            "He's knocked out, but I think he will be fine," he answered.

            "I think you should let the physician on my jet determine that," Seto replied, "Mokuba has contacted my branch here, they have arrived just outside the caver entrance.  Since Mokuba has control of the doors, he has lowered the slab keeping us in here."

            "We better get out of here then," Grandpa said.

Jounouchi sat down next to Grandpa with Yugi on his and Grandpa's lap.  They had seen some of Kaiba's men go into the cave and come out again to there own vehicles.  Finally, Seto got into the passenger seat of the vehicle they were in.  As he ordered the driver to get back to the city, his pin began to blink.

            "Niisama," Mokuba said, "Should I contact the authorities?"

            "No, Mokuba," he answered, "I've taken care of this little matter."

            He took out a remote and pushed a button.  Grandpa and Jounouchi heard a small explosion behind them.  Looking back, they saw the cave collapsed.

            "What was that for?" Jounouchi asked.

            "I don't think you want to be connected to this incident, so I made sure no one can connect it back to you, Motou-sama, or Kaiba Corporation.  Besides, I needed to find some way to get ride of some of my stepfather's old explosives."

            They drove off back into the city and started their way back home.

************

            Yugi packed up his books for the day, as the last bell had rung indicated the end of the school day.  He adjusted his Millennium Puzzle around his neck and got up.  It had been two days since his grandfather, Kaiba, and Jounouchi had rescued him from the madman who called himself Norman.  Since then, he just rested.  It was the end of his first day back, but he had not seen Jounouchi.  

            "Yugi," he heard a female voice behind him, "It's good to have you back."

            "Oye.  You've told him that all day, Anzu."

            He turned around to see Honda and Anzu.  

            "Thanks for inquiring, guys," he gratefully said.

            "So," Honda continued, "How was America like?"

            "Honda!" Anzu protested he question.

            "I'm kidding, I'm kidding.  I just want to cheer the guy up."

            "Huuu…  Baka."

            "Thank anyway, Honda," Yugi said, "You guys haven't heard from Jounouchi?  I haven't really been out of the house since I got back."

            "Nah, he probably over slept," Honda answered, "The lucky guy.  He gets a perfect excuse, because the school thinks the emergency was something in his family."

            "That reminds me," Anzu said, "Kaiba-kun isn't here today."

            "He probably thinks it would be weird with me here."

            "Why?"

            "It's probably just him."

            Honda sighed and said, "Everyone gets to skip class, except me…"

            The three talked for a few more minutes before they started towards the outside of the school.  After they went there separate ways to go home, Yugi began to take his way home.

            _"Aibou," _the other Yugi said, _"I haven't been able to give my apologies."_

"For what?"

            _"I wasn't there when you need me."_

"Yes you were.  You told me you supported Jounouchi when you were trying to rescue me."

            _"I know, but I really can't get it out of my mind that I could have prevented this."_

            "What happened then just happened, other me.  Nothing can change that now.  The only thing I really care about is your determination to be there when Jounouchi needed you."

            _"…Thank you aibou.  I think the time for my memory is at hand, and this event has proven I will have those who will support me in my hour of need as well."_

"Em," Yugi replied as he turned into a corner to see Jounouchi, "Jounouchi-kun!"

            "Yugi…"

            Jounouchi pushed himself off of the leaning position he had on the wall as Yugi jogged to him.

            "How are you, Yugi?" he asked.

"Great.  Uh, why did you over sleep today?"

            "I must have really been worn out after going two days of school after that little ordeal."

            "Thank you, Jounouch-kun," he said, "You risked your life for me."

            "Nothing you wouldn't have done.  You've done it before for me."

            After a brief laugh, they smiled at each other.  

"Oh yeah," Jounouchi said digging in his pocket, "I found these in my deck as I was waiting here.  I must have missed them where I separated our decks after we got back."

            Yugi took the cards and looked at them.  

            He replied, "I knew something was odd about it when I picked it up.  I don't know how to thank you…"

After about a minute, Jounouchi knew that was all the thanks he needed from him, though there was no reason not to show he was insensible.

            "Want a burger, Yugi?"

            "Sure."

The End

A/N:  Well, there you go.  I hope you enjoyed my story, and (as in all of my stories) I would like to thank all of you who reviewed this.  It is very much appreciated.  Ciao.


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